Is Cairo safe for Americans?

Is Cairo safe for Americans? Reviews

The question posed is "Is Cairo safe for Americans?" I visited Cairo in January 2005, a few months before the bombing at the Khan el-Khalili market and so my perceptions are from a different time than now, however, I strongly believe that Cairo is extraordinarily safe for any Western visitor. There were tourist police everywhere, and generally they were helpful and gave a sense that there was some amount of control in a very frenetic city. I was with a friend and we were treated well and with genuine curiousity at every step. There were lots of security checkpoints and controls. We tended to err on the side of caution and tried to not put ourselves in situations that might be dangerous -- we didn't go out into the city alone at night off the beaten tourist path. A tip we found helpful was to pay around 25 dollars each to hire a car and guide to handle tipping and getting to the main sites. The guides we had were very helpful and not knowing Arabic and the nuances of Muslim and Egyptian customs very well, sorted things out for us. We hired the guides through our hotel, but our taxi driver from the airport to the hotel offered the same service, including a dinner with his family near Giza. We soon figured out that you could tip the guide a little more and he would by-pass the papyrus and rug showrooms and let us just visit the things we wanted to see. Tourism is a big source of income and so tourists seemed to be treated well. We did not see many Americans, but there were a number of Europeans travelling while we were there, the Egyptians were very curious about us and were very interested in us and our experience in Egypt. In the end, Cairo and Egypt are very much worth the time and sometimes difficulty of travelling there, see my blog for the stories. Good luck with your trip.

I enjoyed what you wrote! I'm glad that someone like you was there to represent the USA. I hate it when people travel outside of the country and represent the US in a negative light. It's great you got to be a cultural ambassador! Sounds like a great trip.